


A Simple Two Step [Cygate]

by Squidlicious



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, Multi, Transformer!SU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 21:37:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6583498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squidlicious/pseuds/Squidlicious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Cygate: the Tailgate/Cyclonus fusion]</p><p>Months after the Luna 1 incident with Tyrest and his battle recovering from cyberscorsis, Tailgate has a new lease on life and decides to try a few things he’d previously thought he’d have no time for. Still fascinated in Rodimus and Drift’s fusion into HotLock, Tailgate decides that he’d like to learn how to dance like the them, but quickly finds trouble with the task. Luckily for him, Cyclonus is more than hesitant willing to help teach him, and together the two find out the complications of Fusions.</p><p>[Part of the Transformers MTMTE!Steven Universe AU]</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Simple Two Step [Cygate]

**Author's Note:**

> *In this SU!AU: When the sparkeater attacked, and there are damages done across the ship that reached Overlord’s cell. Drift and Rodimus decides to tell everyone on the ship about Overlord because someone might stumble upon him in the damaged lower deck. So Overlord’s prison is shot into space. Nobody leaves and nobody was killed.
> 
> *This is a part of my Transformer!Steven Universe crossover where events of SU are matched up with Transformers. For more information goto my art blog: squiddybiddy.tumblr.com

∆∆∆

_If Tailgate could point out the exact moment that this situation had gone from innocent and friendly curiosity to avoiding serious trouble from the ship's resident Tryst Accord enforcer, he would have said it started the second he was pulled out of that hole and brought onto the Lost Light (a voice deep within him told him that was incorrect). However, if he dropped the dramatics, he could honestly say it started the second he saw Rodimus and Drift’s fusion into the dangerous HotLock. But he was getting slightly ahead of himself, maybe it was best if he started at the beginning._

 

+++

 

        When Tailgate awoke in the medbay after weeks of surgeries and various complications, no one was there to greet him. Weirdly enough, he was slightly relieved though still a tad nervous. He knew that at some point he’d woken up from his forced stasis and while he remembered nothing of who was around, what was said or done on his behalf or others, he certainly remembered there being in excruciating pain that he felt though his protoform and deep in his fragile spark. This tragic experience inspired him to live life to the fullest, not anyone survives a life threatening disease!

Tailgate ran around the whole ship, greeting and checking what everyone was doing. It was surprising that some people remembered him and actually said hello to him. Even Rodimus didn’t immediately kick Tailgate out of the captain’s dock when Drift spotted him hiding behind the computers! Then again he should’ve crawled through the vents rather than sneaking through the door to get in. But something was itching at his spark, something he’s never really looked into before. Since life can end at anytime, Tailgate decided to try and learn one of Cybertron’s most ancient techniques.

“I WANNA FUSE!!!”, Tailgate cried out, tightening his grip on the door frame of the captain’s dock.

“Let go of the doorway you little-!... Wait, what?”, Rodimus stopped pulling at the mini bot’s legs, Tailgate hovering in the air.

“I-I wanna fuse! I know it’s been a while, and you two almost killed everyone on the ship if you weren’t stopped, but you guys looked super cool, and I’ve never fused and-“

“Yea ok. I get it”, Rodimus made a scowling expression, remembering the colorful words Ultra Magnus yelled at him that day. The paperwork never seemed to end after that whole fiasco. He gave Tailgate’s legs a quick tug, the little guy’s grip slipping off the doorframe. Rodimus lifted up Tailgate’s legs, looking at him upside down, “Listen Tailgate. I’m flattered that my ultra cool fusion left a nice impression on you. Wish other people could’ve had that same reaction....but I’m not getting in trouble with Ultra Hard Aft again over this. He hasn’t forgot his little banishment about fusion on the ship...There are signs saying ‘No Fusion’ all over the place.”

Drift walked up, taking Tailgate and flipped him right-side up. He placed the eager minibot back on the floor, “I’m sorry Tailgate. I know how it feels but fusion is serious stuff.  It takes alot of energy, practice, and concentration to fuse.”

Tailgate looked up to Drift with tightened fists, “But that’s what I wanna do! I wanna learn how to do the dances and stuff! Teach me! TEACH MFFF-!!!” A yellow servo pressed on Tailgate’s mouthplate.

Rodimus leaned down and hissed under his breath, “ _Keep it down idiot! You realize that people can hear you! The answer is no! Now get out before you land me in trouble!_ ”

The blue and white minibot made a muffled whine under Rodimus’s servo. The first captain looked up at his friend, “Drift, can you carry Tailgate back to his suite? He won’t go away unless you literally throw him back in his room.” A desperate whine came from Tailgate, “Mmmmppff! Mpppff!”

Drift grasped his chin, making a humming sound. “Drift?”, Rodimus questioned. The samurai mech kneeled down on Tailgate’s level and whispered. “We’ll teach you how to fuse.” Rodimus expression dropped as Tailgate muffled a joyful sound under Rodimus’s servo and bounced up and down.

“WHAT? Drift you’re not serious!”, the first captain commented desperately.

The white and red speed car pressed an index finger to his lips. “Yes I am. Tailgate survived a very dangerous moment in his life. I think he should have a chance at learning our kind’s once most sacred rituals.”

“Sure.... sacred. You sound like that damn purple jet that’s roomed with Tailgate...”, Rodimus sighed, his expression turning annoyed again. Drift leaned very close to Tailgate and whispered, “Do you know where Brainstorm’s lab is?” The minibot nodded quickly. The swordsman smiled, “Good. Meet us there in about 30 minutes. Be ready to start learning. And remember, it’s a secret!” Drift stood back up and gestured Tailgate away. The giddy minibot sprinted away from Rodimus’s grip and ran off.

Rodimus grunted and stood back up straight, “Drift...I swear to god.....”

Drift cocked his head, “Rodimus. How come you’re so adamant on not teaching him fusion?”

“B-Because.... if he actually fused, he’d look like a total mess! He’s just some over excited little brat who dodged death and thinks he can do anything! You honestly think he can keep his form with anyone?”

“We almost didn’t....”, Drift remarked as he walked back into the captain’s dock. The hot rod could only grunt under his breath as he followed along.

+++

The little mech busted into his own suite, shouting Cyclonus’s name repeatedly. He ran up to the old swordsman sitting on a chair, sharpening his sword manually with a rough slab of stone mineral. Cyclonus didn’t break his concentration as Tailgate walked in front of him, more excited than usual.

A drawn out grunt came from the orchid jet as he squinted his old optics, “...What is it Tailgate?...”  He couldn’t believe that this minibot was still running around the ship as if he never was sick. The sword pulsed through Cyclonus’s hands as he grinded the blade, feeling it get warmer when Tailgate is nearby.

“Guess what Drift is gonna teach me! You gotta guess!”, the minibot bounced up and down.

Cyclonus only grunted, applying extra pressure to the dented end of the blade. He didn’t say a word for the longest, the sound of scratching only answering Tailgate.

“Sword fighting?”, Cyclonus finally asked.

“Nooo....”, Tailgate swayed as he tried standing still.

The old mech finally paused his stone grinding and glanced directly at Tailgate. He tried thinking of what Tailgate could possibly be obsessed with after waking up from a coma.

...

Oh Primus....

He wants to learn how to fuse after seeing that monstrous mistake the two captains preformed back when the ship was stranded....

“Fusion?”, Cyclonus guessed. Tailgate’s expression brightening even more confirmed that he was right. The old mech rolled his scarlet optics and grunted as he heard his suite mate practically squeal out yes. Cyclonus placed his grinding stone on the desk as he rose up, hilting his sword behind him.  He walked towards the door as a small servo grabbed his claw. The orchid mech looked down at the minibot below him.

“I thought you’d be a bit happy that you guessed right...”, Tailgate admitted.

“I’m not.”

“Well why not?! How come everyone is so opposed to teaching me fusion! I...I almost died...I wanna do things now before it’s too late.”, the minibot looked down sadly. Cyclonus sighed again and turned to him, “Tailgate...I’m glad you want to experience new things but fusion is serious. You honestly want to learn fusion from someone who almost gotten all of us stranded and killed?”

Tailgate looked down, “W-Well...I...”

“If you want to learn fusion, go ahead. I’m not stopping you. Go off and make the same mistakes Drift did when it comes to fusion”, Cyclonus jerked his hand free and walked out of the room. The door slammed shut and left Tailgate alone.

The minibot huffed angrily, “Fine then! Last time I’m telling you anything!” He stomped to his berth and hopped up on the slab. Tailgate slammed his head directly onto his berth pillow, grunting unintelligible curse words into the pillow.

“He can be so grumpy....He’s never happy with anything I do....I’ll show him I can fuse...I can do it. Drift clearly wouldn’t be willing to teach me if he didn’t believe him me...”, Tailgate mumbled more into his pillow as he laid there in the room alone.

 

+++

 

        The door to Brainstorm’s lab was so intimidating looking, it was just one big, tall door leading up to the ceiling at the end of a dark hallway. It had dents jetting outward on the surface. Tailgate stood there for a second; getting a little nervous whether or not Drift was telling the truth or just plain lying. He took his servo and knocked on the door four times, the sound vibrating off the metal.  Tailgate took a few steps back, looking at the door. Pacing steps eventually were heard from the other side of the door. The door cracked open, a yellow optic peaking out of the dark room.

        “Who dares knock on my door?”, Brainstorm asked ominously as he stared down at his visitor.

Tailgate cocked his head, confused, “Uh...Is Drift in there? I was supposed to meet him in your lab-”

“What, is the password?”, the scientist asked.

“Uuuhhhh... there was a password?”

“What, is your favorite color?”, Brainstorm asked

“My favorite color?....Hold up! That doesn’t make sense!” The minibot scratched his head, even more confused.

“Humph. And you call yourself a coinsure of Earth media. Come in. I had to make sure nobody finds out about your secret lesson with Drift.” Brainstorm moved the door open more, inviting Tailgate in.

“Secret lesson? That sounds like it could be taken a whole another way.....”, the minibot walked into the dark lab.

“It might as well be since you wanna learn about fusion from Drift and the others.” Brainstorm shut the door, leaving the room completely dark.  Lights flashed on, revealing clustered desks of broken up machinery and data pads, as the center of the room was cleared and spacious. Tailgate’s optics adjusted to the sudden flash of brightness of the room. He spotted Drift was standing in front of him in the center of the room. The minibot spotted another mech was beside the white speedcar. A red, gray, and blue mech was leaning on a nearby desk, looking down at Tailgate with his monocle.

Tailgate blinked and took a step forward, “I’m here and I’m ready to learn! But I thought it was just going to be the two us....”

“Well...I thought it would be better if you saw more than one type of dancing...”, Drift glanced at the monocle wearing mech to his side and gave him a sly smirk. The person responded by rolling his eyes stood back up and kneeled down on Tailgate’s level.

“I don’t think we’ve met yet,” the mech held out an open servo for a handshake, “Ironic since I’ve heard your name pop up here and there. My name is Perceptor.”

The minibot grasped the gray servo and shook it, “Ooooh. YOU’RE Perceptor! Brainstorm says your name alot at Swerve’s bar, saying you’re super smart and can make anything out of spare parts!”

“Yes”, the microscope smiled, “Brainstorm tends to gloat about me whenever I finish a project....”

Tailgate gave a slightly confused look, “He also says that he wants to ‘glance through your microscope’ when he’s drunk. What does that mea-“

“A-HA. HA. HA. HA,” Brainstorm forcefully laughed aloud, “Hey didn’t you wanna learn to do a fusion dance?!” Perceptor gave the teal jet an irritated look.  The eccentric scientist twiddled his fingers nervously and shrugged, “What? I didn’t mean **_THAT_ ** way! You’re a microscope, a device useful for...looking through and...”, he trailed off. Perceptor’s face didn’t change, making Brainstorm sadly slump his shoulders and walk to his workbench quietly.

The red and blue mech stood back up and flashed a smile, “Okay! How about we start learning about fusion! BRAINSTORM! DIM THE LIGHTS!”

A small huff came from Brainstorm as he walked to the light switches. The lights were dimmed down as a stream of light projected out of Perceptor’s microscope lens. A light blue square formed, displaying simple two organic figures side by side. The figures possessed multiple sets of eyes and multiple limbs.

“Fusion is an ancient technique that was passed down by a very peaceful race of people who were metallic but had organic characteristics called Sythians. Our ancient philosophers millions of years ago happened upon their planet, Synth. We passed our knowledge of our planet and theologies and they were grateful for not being violent.  They were documented to be almost as tall as you Tailgate. “

“Tall as me?”, the minibot parroted as he bent down and sat on the floor.

“In exchange of us being peaceful, they taught us how to connect with each other. Synthians have a strong belief in connection and bonding with others, in pursuit to stay peaceful. They do this by merging within their personal social groups, friends in other words, and forming new beings.”

The two organic forms touched each other’s “hands” and morphed together into a bigger, more sturdy being that could be confused for simple designed Cybertronian.  The number of limbs increased along with the set of their eyes across their body.

“One of the elder Synthians detected how our metal bodies contained some of the same elements as them. They demonstrated how we could merge together too. Now at first, this sounded out of the question but it was possible. We needed to concentrate our mental energy to its full extent and trust that energy with someone you closely care about.  It took about a few days to try and master this technique but the philosophers actually did it. It was documented that the two philosophers shined brightly all over and practically melted into each other. In result, a mech stood high as a new being contained the memories of the two people.”

Tailgate scratched his head, “So......if we think really, really, REALLY hard, we can fuse?”

Perceptor raised a brow, “It’s a bit more than... ‘Thinking hard’...” He turned off the hologram, dissolving the imagery into the air. “Fusion takes alot of energy and trust that you’re willing to pass along to another person.  It takes a lot of practice to get the hang of it. It’s not impossible since this technique has been internalized in everyone’s processors by now. BRAINSTORM! LIGHTS ON!”

The lights flickered on. Tailgate looked up at Perceptor confused, “Um....All of this seems complicated. What does dancing have to do with fusion through?”

Drift raised a servo up, “Its been proven that two mechs in motion can activate fusion better. Dancing with another person causes you to try and find a type of ‘personal rhythm’ together. The swordsman grasped his servos together, intertwining his fingers together, “It emotionally connects the two together, lending their trust to each other, and reaching that moment of care and trust you’re willing to give to that person you care about.”

“Oh god I’m gonna purge.....”, a cocky voice called from the doorway.

Everyone turned to see Rodimus strut in the lab, slamming the door behind him. Brainstorm looked up suddenly from his own worktable, surprised that he didn’t hear someone open the door. Rodimus walked up to a sitting Tailgate, “You guys are making fusion sound like this right of passage or something...” He kneeled down, placing a servo on Tailgate’s back, “Tailgate, anyone can fuse. ANYONE. It’s super easy....Well...for me.”

Perceptor walked up to the first captain, narrowing his optics, “Fusion shouldn’t be abused or taken advantage of. Its use is for efficiency, not for turning into a giant, immature fool!”

Drift sighed out loud, the tension between the two sparking again. Rodimus scoffed at the scientist, folding his arms as he walked around the workshop.

“So are we going to teach this little guy or not? I can tell he’s about to go into hibernation mode any minute.”

“N-No I’m not!”, Tailgate got up from the floor, “I wanna start dancing!”

Drift clapped his servos, “Good idea! Let us give you some demonstrations. You can try to copy a few motions after wards.”

 

+++

 

Soft, contemporary music echoed in the room as time seemed to pass by quickly in the lab. Brainstorm looked up more and more from his work at the mechs, swinging and pacing across the floor. He paced around his bench and looked upon the whole scenario in amusement.

Two sharp finger snaps came from a gray servo, “Begin”, Perceptor ordered.

Rodimus stood behind the minibot, holding Tailgate’s hands up. He moved his right leg in front of him, pressing it against the back of the smaller mech’s leg. Tailgate mimicked the motion, moving his right leg back and tried keeping up with the first captain’s movements. The minibot giggled to himself, the excitement of possibly fusing with Rodimus. He was spun around, tossed off his feet, and tried to smoothly sway his hips with the hot rod.

As soon as they re-connected their hands and huddled close to each other, Tailgate squeezed his eyes shut. Nothing happened. The minibot looked up at Rodimus, giving him a confused look. “Nothing happened.”

The first captain snorted, “Well I guess you need to practice more!”

Tailgate paced around Drift and Perceptor, stepping side to side with interlocked servos. The two stepped in synch with each other. The swordsman moved away and twirled the scientist around in place. When Perceptor turned back around, Drift moved his hand behind his back and dipped the scientist down. Perceptor arched his back up, looking forward with a smile as Drift nuzzled his helm under the microscope’s chin. The two stayed in that position for a moment until swordsman lifted Perceptor back up and waved to Tailgate, “Okay, it’s you’re turn!”

At first, Tailgate tried to replicate Drift’s moves on Perceptor, but the obvious height difference quickly became an issue when trying to twirl Perceptor in place. The dip was pulled off successful when Drift held Perceptor’s shoulders up while Tailgate used both of his servos to hold the scientist’s back. A muffled sound of laughter came from Rodimus across the room.

Hours passed as Tailgate tried to kick his legs up high, move his arms in a fast rhythm, twirled in place multiple times, literally thrown in the air, embraced, stomped his feet, leaning in all directions, and tried to lower his guard enough to try and fuse. The minibot fell onto the floor, his chin resting on the ground. Tailgate made a whine between his gasping. Drift kneeled down beside the tired minibot and placed a servo on his back, “You did a good job today!”

Tailgate sighed, “I...I couldn’t do it...I-ugh...”, he gave up trying to talk.

Perceptor walked over to the two, “Like I said, it takes alot of practice!”

Rodimus jumped up and sat on a nearby workbench, “Yea. It’s kinda difficult.” The swordsman took his hand off the minibot’s back and stood up straight, “Eh...”

“B-but I even dropped my guard and trusted you guys!”, Tailgate said, “You all trust me...right?”

All three of them gave Tailgate a mixed look. Rodimus turned away, rolling his eyes and huffed. Drift stood there with a straight look. The air turning really awkward second by second until Perceptor tapped his fingertips together and gave a nervous laugh, “Well the dances you did weren’t really properly done....”

A frown erupted behind Tailgate’s faceplate, “You didn’t trust me?!”

Rodimus grunted, “Maybe if you learn how to dance, THEN we can try to fuse with you! If we tried to fuse with you a couple of minutes ago, nothing would form properly! You’d just form into a blob with one of us and then break up.”

“B-But....”

“Tailgate, you’ll learn how to dance if you keep practicing”, Perceptor walked to a large engine-like machine and opened a drawer under the table, “We can have another lesson tomorrow if you wish.” Tailgate slowly stood back up with his shoulders hunched, “Sure...”

A small card was pulled out of the drawer and was scribbled on the back. Perceptor handed Tailgate the small card and turned back to the engine, pulling out small cords from the machinery. The minibot started walking to the door until a yellow servo slapped his shoulder by surprise. Rodimus grinned, “Oh cheer up little guy! You might nail it tomorrow! You’re a special little snowflake right?”

Drift folded his arms, “Well. I have faith that Tailgate can do it.” Tailgate looked at the swordsman, feeling his spirits lift a little.

“But in case you’re total crap at learning...”, Brainstorm whipped out a large paper rolled up from the closet and paced to the minibot, “Here!” He shoved the scroll onto Tailgate’s chest, “This is a very step by step dancing guide for people who are pitiful at dancing! Maybe this’ll help.”

The mech took the scroll and looked to the side, “Thank you Brainstorm. I’ll try to bring this back to you.”

“I’d LOVE that because it’s a pretty damn important piece of paper to me. Bring it back to me next time your meeting comes up.”, Brainstorm walked to the door and opened the door up. Tailgate paced out of the lab, saying his goodbyes as he walked back to his room with hands filled.

 

+++

 

        Cyclonus blinked his optics at a few of the large planets that were being passed by, the stars almost looking like bright, thin horizonal lines. He stepped away from the window and headed back to his room from the upper deck. A few people gave him a scared expression while others dodged direct eye contact. The fact that he was behaving and even saved an autobot on the ship, it still didn’t grant him an ounce of respect other than fear.

Better to be feared than hated. In the past, he would’ve loved being feared by others. But now, he wished others didn’t constantly watch him. Those days of being intimidating and barbaric were over with.

When the doors of his room slid open, the performance being done in the suite was unexpected. His little roommate nearly jumped out of his plating as he rapidly turned around in shock, sticking a ridiculous dance pose.  Cyclonus couldn’t help but give a flat look to Tailgate who was drawing his shoulders together and looking down. He stepped through the door, resealing the door so they were completely alone. The jet walked up and looked down at the pathetic looking mech before him.

“What the hell are you doing?”, Cyclonus dared to ask.

Tailgate backed up a little, the paper beneath him crumpled. He moved his hands behind his back, “Um...Trying to learn how to dance....so I can fuse?”

The orchid colored mech looked to the side, noticing the small music box playing one of his classical disks.

“You went through my music disks didn’t you.....”, he asked, although he knew the answer as soon as Cyclonus noticed that Tailgate looked even more guilty.

Cyclonus could tell it was one of his disks because it was one of the Grace of Primus orchestra albums, something nobody was generally interested in anymore. Which is a shame because it’s soothing electronic string instruments. Hearing those gentle notes played in a symphony made Cyclonus feel nostalgic, recalling the last time he’s heard this song. It was actually in a room, with someone he protected, on a large ship going across the universe.

“You’re not mad are you?”

The old swordsman blinked out of his thoughts back to reality. He shifted his position a bit, “No. Just ask me next time. Those disks are very old and basically antiques.”

The minibot walked to his berth and hopped on it, burying his face into the pillow. A miserable cry came from the muffled pillow. Cyclonus paced up to Tailgate, “How was your lesson with Drift?....”

The little mech sniffled and turned his head towards the jet, “I can’t fuse! Everyone can fuse like it’s nothing while I can’t even do it! I tried doing what Drift and Perceptor and Rodimus did but nothing happened!”

Cyclonus gave a look consisting of “I told you so”, he didn’t even have to say it. Tailgate knew that exact look and made a whining noise.

“Apparently they don’t even trust me!”

“Of course they don’t...”, Cyclonus remarked.

“B-But why?!”

The orchid mech grunted, “Do I really have to explain it? Fusion is all about trust. _TRUST, Tailgate....TRUST._ They might be nice towards you but it’s not the same as fully trusting you.

Tailgate rubbed his eyes with a servo as he rose up into a sitting position. “D-Does that mean nobody trusts me?....”, he hiccupped.

Cyclonus sighed, “Tailgate...”

“Nothing has changed! Nobody trusts me...,” the minibot’s visor seemed like it was leaking on the sides of his face, “I survived death and yet, everyone thinks I’m this newly made protoform! People think I’m just some sort of....sort of stupid, idiotic little...” Tailgate stopped talking as his words began slurring together.

Primus, Cyclonus couldn’t stand seeing this little guy cry. The hiccups and sobbing was annoying to hear while trying to goto sleep. He placed a servo on Tailgate’s back, rubbing in slow circles.

“Tailgate. Stop this crying. You’re not an idiot.” That didn’t help because Tailgate kept sobbing, trying to wipe the liquid tears under his visor. Cyclonus couldn’t find the right words to say. He internally grunted, this sad emotional garbage was not something he’s used to dealing with. The jet glanced at the wrinkled thick paper on the ground filled with pede imprints and the old music box still playing.

Cyclonus gritted his teeth hard, the feeling of guilt burning through his circuits. He exhaled and backed off away from Tailgate. The minibot looked up from his tears to see his suite mate standing straight with one servo behind his back while the other was extended with an open palm. Tailgate blinked his bright blue optics, piecing together what Cyclonus was doing.

“Huh?....”, he sadly asked.

“Let me try to teach you”, Cyclonus answered.

The minibot looked to the side, “Y-You’ll show me how to do the fusion dance?”

“There is no ‘official fusion dance’. You find your own way of dancing. Take my servo, you’re going to follow my movements.”

Tailgate wiped his face and slid off his berth, pacing across the room to Cyclonus. The music moved to the next track, playing electric violins with piano synthesizers. The minibot took Cyclonus’s servo as his other servo was grasped. He felt his servos move up in front of him as Tailgate looked up at his dancing partner.

“Take a step back”, Cyclonus ordered. Tailgate moved backward as Cyclonus followed him.

“Now you move.”, the jet said.

Tailgate gave him a confused look, “To where?”

“It’s up to you.”

The minibot through for a second, “I wanna move forward.” He stepped forward as Cyclonus stepped back.

“Ok let’s step back and forward,” the old warrior said.  The two of them step back and forward slowly at first until Cyclonus stepped the speed up a bit.

“What other move do we do?”, the little mech asked.

“Again, it’s up to you.”

Tailgate thought this back and forth was getting a bit old, he decided to move to the left instead of forward as Cyclonus followed him. The old swordsman also decided to move left Tailgate moving along, the two successfully spinning around. An idea popped in the minibot’s head as he snickered under his facemask, he moved left again. Cyclonus followed along as he kept doing the same. Tailgate gleefully kept moving left after the 3th spin.

The orchid jet raised a brow, catching the little game the mech was playing. On his turn, he let go of Tailgate’s left servo. Cyclonus raised his right grip above this dancing partner, twirling Tailgate around in place and grasped the minibot’s servo again.

“Damn, you caught my game...”, Tailgate giggled, pacing side to side.

“You’re not that subtle...”, Cyclonus flatly commented as he followed his amused dancing partner. The pit of his spark actually felt better seeing Tailgate not moping on his berth. He knew the little mech wasn’t that miserable, the feeling of being accepted was still an issue Tailgate was facing. The music was picking up tempo as it echoed off the thick walls of the room, the two simply swaying together around the floor.

Cyclonus’s mouth slightly twitched as the grip of his servos tightened. Tailgate felt the sudden application of pressure on his servos. Before he could mentally question the reason for this, his body was leaned back towards the floor as Tailgate saw the orchid jet lean in. Optics blinked wide as the little minibot realized what was happening. Cyclonus dipped Tailgate slowly, the two directly looking at each other.

The two of them stayed in that position for a moment. Tailgate felt his face turn hot, gazing up at Cyclonus looking back down at him with a calm look. The minibot couldn’t help but grin under his faceplate, witnessing this rare image of the fearsome warrior.

The orchid jet noticed the minibot amusement behind his mouth place, seeing Tailgate’s bright blue optics shine through his visor.

A part of Cyclonus wanted to give Tailgate a typical scowl for thinking this was a joke. His brow twitched but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.  Whether it was the music or just seeing his roommate having fun with him...A strange feeling of satisfaction flowed through Cyclonus’s spark. He felt his faceplate get lighter as he made a soft chuckle under his breath.

The air around the two of them felt very still, their interlocked servos felt like they were melting into each other. Tailgate noticed his body temperature go up, his vision going very blurred. A white light flashed in his view as his body felt lighter than a feather. Tailgate could only catch a glimpse of Cyclonus’s optics shining bright as the rest of his body glowed brightly.

“It’s hot...but it doesn’t...hurt....”, the minibot trailed off as his mind was drifting off into a state of unconsciousness. The bright, blinding light turning into a deep black abyss of nothing as the music was muffed into silence.

 

~

 

The music ended as the music box clicked off, the disk stopped rotating.

        Thin, horizontal lines suddenly appeared in view as bright optics turned back online. The optics blinked on fully to see that the ground was closer than usual. A yawn came from the throat as shaky legs tried to stand back up from the floor.

“E-euh....”

The optics glanced down again to see itself further away from the floor. It was strange to see the floor so far away; part of it didn’t feel right to be so high up. What was truly strange was the fact that purple claws were attached to it instead of normal claws.

“I have claws?”

It paused, “...I do have claws.... But where am I?” A mirror to the side caught the image of an unfamiliar figure. The optics glanced at it as it stepped forward to the reflective surface. The figure moved in synch with it.

“What am I?”

The mirror showed a tall, blue, white, and purple schemed mech. White horns adorned his purple helm; a slim orchid mask adorned his face with light blue markings on the bottom. His chest plate attached to his blue torso resembled a hollow faceplate with the same blue markings on it’s bottom also. Finally a purple hood was worn on his back with white plate fins pointing up.

It looked up and down the mirror in amazement, twirling around to try and see every nook and cranny of itself. Blinking at the mirror made it realize that it had four optics staring back at itself. The top set of eyes had a blue color while the bottom had a scarlet tint. It cocked it’s head a bit, slowly realizing what happened.

“I...did it...?”

“I did IT?! “

“I FUSED?!”, the thought smacked him in the face. He was a fusion! The dance he did actually caused this!

“Should I even say I? I mean I’m two people...What if I can’t unfuse? What if I’m stuck like this?! What if-“, he paused, darting his eyes directly forward into a thousand yard stare.

_“W-What’s going on?!”, Tailgate internally told himself._

_“Tailgate, don’t panic. We’re fused together.”, Cyclonus answered._

_“How am I doing this? You can hear my thoughts?!”, the minibot asked._

_“You’re speaking internally right now. You need to be calm and accept what’s going on, don’t think too hard about what’s going on. You’ll break us up or make us go on a rampage...”, the swordsman said._

_“Sorry...I this is just so surreal...”, Tailgate apologized._

_“It feels strange at first but once we start walking around, it’ll feel normal. You’ll forget we’re even connected”, Cyclonus said. “Fusion is about being together and being a different being together, truly feeling what the other feels. Do you see why trust is such an important factor in fusion?”_

_“I see now!,” Tailgate kept his thoughts silent until.... “So does this mean you trust me?”, he asked sweetly._

“What do you think you idiot?”, the fusion said out loud in a gravelly voice.

He blinked back to reality as he slumped a little. “I guess that was a yes to me”, he said to himself in a friendlier tone.

The fusion looked around the room, feeling contained within the suite. His mouth twitched, “I can’t just stand here. I-I have to tell someone! I don’t wanna be locked up in a room! I know Ultra Magnus would get angry if he saw another fusion on the ship but I’m bored in this room.” He paced slowly towards the door, his body wobbled after each right step. The button for the door was pressed, leaving the room and stood into the wide hallway.

The door sealed shut automatically, making the fusion jump a little. Looking right and left for any other person he could possibly talk to but nobody was around.  He tapped an index finger on his chin, “Nobody’s here”, be began walking to the right down the hallway. He felt his weight shift normally as he walked more.

“I could possibly tell Swerve about this but he can’t keep secrets...Maybe if I met him outside the bar, then it could be a different outcome....Or I could tell-“

A sudden feeling of metal against his chest pushed a crimson red and orange mech in front of him forward, nearly stumbling over his steps. The fusion flinched and raised his hands up to get ready to apologize. Unfortunately the spiky speedcar was faster than it.

“HEY WATCH IT!”, Rodimus called out as he turned to the mech, “You wanna injure your captain or something?!” He fully turned around with an annoyed expression on his face.

“I-I’m sorry! I wasn’t paying attention! It won’t happen again!”, the fusion backed up from the captain.

Rodimus squinted his optics at the stranger in front of him, “Do I know you?”

The mech’s spinal cord stiffened, feeling panic craw up his back. His optics darted in random directions, trying to think of an excuse. Nothing came up. The fusion sighed, “Yes...Well sort of. Just don’t tell Ultra Magnus! I don’t wanna get in trouble!”

The first captain raised a brow and gave a baffled look, “What the hell are you talking about? Ultra Mag-“ His optics shot open, “W-Wait...TAILGATE?”

The fusion scrunched his shoulders. A mean smirk stretched across Rodimus’s face, the amusement just boiling within him. “Oh my GOD! I’M RIGHT AREN’T I?”, the captain busted out into a laughing fit.

The mech in front of him huffed, “What’s so funny?”

“You”, Rodimus flatly answered, “Seriously....every, single, fraggin’ time I turn my back, you’re just doing some type of wild stunt!” He breathed out and grasped his helm. “So! Who’s the ‘lucky’ guy who decided to do this with you?”

The bottom set of scarlet eyes flashed brightly.

“I’m gonna take another guess and think it’s Cyclonus.”, Rodimus clapped his hands together as an idea flashed in his sight.  He took the fusion’s servo and the two started walking. Four optics blinked in confusion as he tried to keep up with the captain’s fast pace.

“W-Wait! Where are you taking me? Am I in trouble?”, the fusion weakly asked.

Rodimus was quiet for a moment before turning his head to the tall mech he was towing along, “No you big dummy. I’m gonna show you off to Ultra Magnus and the others to convince him to lift that dumb anti-fusion rule he has up.”

“Can’t he just meet us here?”, the blue and purple mech questioned.

“Nope! We’re meeting in that psychiatrist’s office. I cannot wait to show you off everyone!” The two passed up skeptical faces on the way to Rung’s office, questioning the mysterious 4-eyed being their first captain was walking with.

A heavy, solid door stood in front of the two mechs. A small light bulb on the door was shining white with letters underneath translating to “vacant”.  Rodimus walked up to the large door with a hand to his chin, spotting the letters.

“Oh good, he’s not busy.” With his pede swinging back, the captain hit the doorway repeatedly as the impact of metal hitting larger metal echoed. The blue and purple mech nervously tapped his fingertips together as the disruptive noise continued. After the 9th hit Rodimus stopped kicking the door. A soft, annoyed grunt came from the other side of the door as the door unlock and moved to the side.

A citrus orange mech dragged the door open and looked up at his captain. “Rodimus, do you have to kick my door EVERY time you visit? You have working arms and servos and-”, Rung stopped as he caught glance of the tall blue and purple mech standing in the background. He adjusted his specs, getting a better look at the nervous fusion staring back at him.

“Who is that?”

“Move over 4 eyes. I’m calling a special meeting in your office.”, Rodimus side stepped into Rung’s office. The psychiatrist moved aside and turned to his captain.

“What is this all about?”, Rung questioned. Rodimus jumped up and sat upon the large desk in the center, putting a finger to his grinning lips and made a shushing noise. The fusion quietly walked through the doorway and stood off in a corner. The orange mech took another look at the mysterious mech in his office.

“Just wait until the rest show up...”, the speed car answered.

 

+++

 

Soft murmurs of electricity flowed through the lights fixtures above the office. The rest of the captains arrived as everyone looked at the tall purple and blue fusion standing near the doorway. Drift stood on the left side of the desk while Ultra Magnus stood opposite side with Rung. The swordsman had his servos up together into a prayer gesture on his lips. Ultra Magnus could barely contain his revving engines in anger as he gritted his teeth.

Rung placed his servo on his cheek, “Tailgate fused.... with Cyclonus?”

Rodimus placed both servos on the desk as he swayed his pedes back and forth, tilting his head to the side. “It’s still weird to say that...I always thought that jet was all scary and non-talkative”, the captain smiled, “guess someone has a soft spot for that minibot.”  

Rodimus looked at Drift and elbowed the psychiatrist in the arm, “Psst! Rung, look at Drift’s face!” The two looked over to see the third captain with a grin stretched across his face.

“Yes, how touching. Now un-fuse immediately”, Ultra Magnus strictly ordered.

The fusion’s optics shot open as he stepped back. “But I’m not doing anything bad....”

“YET. You’re not doing anything bad yet. I’ve seen fusions go from calm to chaotic! You have fused when this ship has under ‘No Fusion’ laws in place! You will un-fuse this instant. I don’t even know why Rodimus even showed you to me!”, the second captain scoffed, giving the fusion a dark look.

Rodimus hopped off the desk and pointed at the officer, “Are you kidding me? The only reason why that dumb rule is in because you’re afraid of fusions going nuts! Do you see this room in shambles? Tailgate and Cyclonus aren’t doing anything except playing with his face!”  The fusion stopped poking his fingers through his hollow cheeks and stood up straight.

Ultra Magnus growled, this was not the first time his first captain argued about this subject and he was not about to open this discussion again so soon. Rung stepped up to the fusion and took his servo. Examining it thoroughly, he released it. He proceeded to walk slowly around the mech, looking up at it’s horns down to his pedes. The fusion felt his right arm get lifted by Rung, who looked under his arms and down it’s side.

“W-What are you doing?”, the fusion asked.

“Looking at you”, Rung calmly answered over Ultra Magnus and Rodimus’s arguing. The hot rod jabbed his index finger in random directions with an agitated expression while the cop stood there with a stubborn face.

“O-oh....”

The psychiatrist lowered the arm back down and stood in front of it. “You seem very stable...Would you be willing to retract your facemask?”

The fusion’s mouth twitched a little, he never really saw what he looked like underneath his facemask. He was too concerned about the fact that he even existed. What if he looked like a total monster underneath his mask?! He could have like 10 eyeballs on his face! Squeezing his claws in and sighing, he nodded. The mask makes a small clicking noise as a seam running down the middle formed and started to separate. His optics dimmed out as the mask separated and slid across his face, hiding inside the crevice of his helmet piece. A pure white face appeared, air hitting the warm surface for the first time. His hollow cheeks, resembling Cyclonus’s face structure were more obvious. The fusion blinked his optics, looking down at Rung who cracked a small smile. The rest of the captains stared at the fusion as soon as the mask retracted.

“Do I look horrible?”, the fusion asked.

Rodimus instantly pointed an index finger in the blue and purple mech’s direction, shouting “HA!” and turned back to Ultra Magnus with a grin, “HE’S NOT SCARY! If those two can be stable, why not anyone else?!”, the speedcar argued. The cop grunted as he slapped a hard servo on his face, gray steam beginning to fume out of his exhaust pipes adorned on his head.

Drift walked up to the fusion with a smile, getting a better look. “You’re stable. You have two sets of optics”, he lightly pointed up at the mech. “I’ve never seen a stable fusion in person before!”

“They’re rare nowadays but it is fascinating to see one”, Rung adjusted his specs again, “And it’s even more rare to see a stable fusion with blue optics with red focus points or pupils in other words.”

The first captain walked directly up to the fusion with widened optics, “Woah...Your optics are different.” Rodimus placed both of his servos on the fusion’s chest plate, resembling a skeletal faceplate. “So how does it feel to be fused Tailgate? Or Cyclonus? Or.....”, the red and orange mech grinned, “Cygate?”

Cygate placed an index finger on his chin, “It feels...new and amazing!”, he grinned also, wishing he could see himself with his facemask off now. “Everything feels so different to me. I mean...I’ve never felt like this before!” Ultra Magnus stepped up to the mech, his heavy steps making the room nearly shake. “Yes we’re all happy that you’re a brand new mech. Now unfuse before you go on a rampage!” he ordered with an annoyed grimace.

“Will you just drop it!”, the first captain complained and turned to the cop, “You’re just a kill joy! This little mech has finally done something he was bothering me about for the last 10 hours about! He’ll unfuse eventually...” Ultra Magnus made a long groan, “Ugh!...”, he looked over at the third captain, “Drift! Will you help me out here?”

The swordsman stepped in front of Cygate, the others backing up a bit.  “Cygate”, he grasped the fusion’s right servo with one grasp. “You are not just a fusion, you are a new being”, Drift grasped the other servo and bought the purple clawed servos together, “ Created from two people who trust in each other more than they probably realize.”  He raised the fusion’s servos up, “I, third command of the Lost Light, am giving you permission to go and stay together as long as you want!” Drift flashed a smile at Cygate, “Now, go off and have fun!” He released the mech’s hands and shooing him out of the room.

Cygate looked up to see the giant cop gritting his teeth with a furious look across his face. Rodimus made the same shooing gesture with a uninterested expression. The blue and purple mech made a half smile and walked out of the therapeutic office. When the doors closed, muffled yelling could be heard through the metal door.

 

+++

 

“Hmm. I guess my eyes look a bit different than usual”, Cygate tilted his head to the side, watching his pupils follow his movement. His reflection showed his optics brighter than the rest of him in the window. He decided to travel more upwards, in attempt to get away from the drama that probably exploded in Rung’s office. Bright burning stars and space debris floating in darkness passed across the upper ship’s windows. He touched his face, a part of him feeling new to having his face out in the open.

“If you stare longer, you’ll end up hypnotizing yourself.”  The mech felt his spine cord jump. He turned to his left with a startle to see someone suddenly standing there next to him. A navy blue and white palette mech with boat deck plating, decorating his arms and back, stood there. He was leaning his back on the wall with his arms folded, a small confident grin shown on his pink face. Cygate blinked, “O-oh it’s you Riptide...”, puzzled at his remark as he leaned back up slowly, “Sorry I was just looking at myself...”

The jet boat swallowed as he saw the mech in front of him lean up, watching the fusion’s plating move gently. Riptide unfolded his arms and placed his servos on his hips and puffed his chest out a bit. “Heh...I would too if I looked like you...”, he steadily remarked.

Cygate frowned. Riptide’s optics shot open and realized what he said, “Oh no! No! No!” He raised his hands up in a panic and shook his head, “I didn’t mean it in a rude way! I meant it in a nice way! Ya know...When I said you’ll end up hypnotizing yourself if you keep looking at yourself because... you look good....” Riptide made a weak laugh as the fusion made a confused look.

“ _Good one idiot! Go ahead and ruin your chance at this guy!”,_ the jet boat scratched the back of his head, thinking of something else to say to not sound too obvious.

“Uh. Thank you Riptide...”, Cygate awkwardly thanked.

“Oh you’re wel-“, Riptide paused, “Wait. You know my name?”

“Of course I do, I-“ Cygate stopped mid-sentence as an idea popped in his head. He smiled, “I’m new on the ship...I got the opportunity to join the crew when the ship refueled.”

The navy blue mech blinked, “If you’re new, how do you know my name?”

Cygate’s mouth twitched, “Well....I heard a couple of people talk about you and I found out who you looked like! You’re very distinct in a crowd.”

Riptide’s grin returned, “Really? Well you’re quite a sight for tired optics yourself.” He gave a nervous smirk to the fusion. Cygate smiled, his idea already working. He began walking pass Riptide, “I’ve gotta get going...see ya.”

The jet boat turned, seeing the odd but nice looking mech walk away from him. He gritted his teeth, practically running up beside the fusion. “So, mind me asking where you’re...I mean, we’re going?”, he exposed a pointed grin, “Because I was gonna stop by Swerve’s bar. I mean it’s a pretty cool place with some cool folks there...”

The tall mech smiled to himself, his fuel tanks nearly doing a back flip in excitement. A small squeak escaped his throat, Riptide raising a brow at the strange noise. Cygate placed a servo on his chest, feeling his sparks buzzing and straightened his posture.

“I’d love to.”, he said gently.

Yellow optics shined as Riptide felt his spark beat with thrill. He led the fusion towards the cozy bar. Along the way, Cygate noticed his escort taking a gander at him at times and quickly looking away with a pleased look.

_“What’s up with Riptide?...”_

 

+++

 

A peculiar rhythm was heard outside the entrance into the bar. Cygate heard someone say the number ten when the two arrived near the doorway. A giant golden mech stood in front of the door, looking down with his optic-less face.  The mech opened his mouth, muttering the number “Ten...”. Riptide backed up a little from the guard.

Ten leaned in to get a better “look” at the fusion. Cygate contorted his mouth, feeling a bit uncomfortable being stared at. The legislator bot bend forward and nuzzled Cygate’s helm with his own, his motor purring.

Riptide stepped beside Cygate with a confused look, “W-What the hell? Why is Ten nuzzling you?!”

Cygate nervously laughed as he placed both servos on Ten’s shoulders and pushed him away. “I-I dunno what’s gotten into this stranger! He’s a bit affectionate!” The blue and purple mech whispered into Ten’s audio input, “ _Psst! Get off Ten! I’m trying to do a thing here! You’re blowing my cover! Nuzzle later....”_ The golden mech said his name calmly as he stepped aside, the two stepped into the bar.

The weird song was louder inside. A dark gray minibot was sitting at the bar off to the side, rocking his head smoothly from side to side. Music was blasting from the red and yellow boom box beside Rewind. Beside him was Chromedome who was silently looking through the cassette collection scattered on the table. Two mechs were chatting silently off on the other side of the bar. The blue one chuckled something as the other gray mech with red, white, and blue accents smirked under his yellow mouth plate.  Putting down his glass, Swerve scratched his head while looking at the boom box.

“This is some weird stuff you found RW. Is this Earth music?”

Rewind raised an index finger, “Yes! I’d thought you’d recognize this music since you love Earth culture and this piece of audio history is called ‘Sounds for the Supermarket’. It was made just 40 years ago. Apparently, it was made with inaudible subliminal recordings that were intended to increase the chance of people buying more goods.”

Swerve finished pouring a yellow glowing liquid into a tall glass and screwed the cap back on a premium grade energon. “Subliminal recordings? Primus...”, the bartender shook his head. Skids hummed in agreement and took a sip. Another bottle of premium grade hit the counter and was unscrewed. Getaway held up his short glass as radiant purple liquid flowed.

“That sounds like alot of effort to buy a can of food...That’s what they eat right?”, a voice said coming from the boom box. The device leaped off the counter, transforming into a red and yellow mech. Blaster intertwined his fingers and raised them above his head, stretching.

“Food, yes. The can, no.”, Rewind fiddled with the cassettes on the table. “I’d be lying if I said humans crafting inaudible recordings wasn’t impressive.” Blaster walked to a booth and sat on the edge of the seat, continuing to play the music.

“You gotta be careful with humans! Don’t turn your back on those little things”, Swerve putting up the bottle and grabbing a rag to clean the counter off. The bartender looked up to see the two mechs who were moving towards him. Optics ran over the taller one with the blue and purple scheme, “Who is the new guy Rip bought in?”, he said to himself quietly. Skids caught Swerve staring and turned around, his pal also looked.

Riptide strutted right up to the bar with a confident look across his face. He offered the center seat to Cygate. The two sat down, the fusion placing his hands in his lap. Swerve propped an elbow on the table as he rested his chin on his servo. “Well now, we’ve got a new face here.....What’s your name stranger?”

The fusion felt everyone was looking at him. He swallowed, “My name is Cygate.”

Skids tilted his head, “Cygate?....”

“Cygate as in....as in....Cybernetic Gateway!”, the mech answered, “I wanted to be known as Cybergate but that was taken...All the good names are always taken, ya know what I mean?!”

Getaway leaned forward to get a better look at the stranger, “Interesting name you got... so where are ya from?”

Cygate blinked, his mind rushing, “I came from Cybertron.”

A loud snort came from the mneurosurgeon, followed by an elbow to his stomach by his conjunx. The others around him chuckled at the answer, the fusion nervously laughed along. “Didn’t expect ya to have a sense of humor!”, Swerve wiped his cheek, a grin stretching across his face.

Rewind rolled his optics, “The guy could’ve been cold constructed, ya know? He did say that the cool names were taken. When were you made?”

“M-Made? I was forged.”, Cygate said.

Chromedome raised a brow, “When?”

“F-Four million years ago...?”, he answered weakly.

A moment of silence erupted. Cygate’s mouth twitched and glanced at everyone with a desperate look. Skids tapped his finger on his chin, “Were there hot spots back then? That’s when the war erupted. I don’t remember there being alot of them around.”

Riptide growled and slammed a fist on the counter. “What is this?! 50 rapid questions?! I’m treating Cygate to a drink, not to a doctor!”, the jet boat pointed at Swerve, “Give us two regular grade.” He sighed and placed a servo on the fusion’s shoulder, “I am sorry if you got a little nervous...”, Riptide whispered.

Cygate smiled very mildly, “It’s ok Riptide, I don’t mind”. The mech removed his servo off the fusion’s shoulder and exhaled with a small smile.  The jet boat heard giggling from behind the counter. He turned to see Swerve snickering while pouring up two drinks. “Wow...”, Swerve placed the two drinks on the counter with a napkin underneath, “You wanna private booth?” Riptide gritted his teeth and scuffed, feeling his faceplate heat up. He swiped his glass and nearly swallowed the energon in one gulp. Cygate took the glass; he paused for a minute and carefully sipped the drink. He looked down at his chest, making sure the liquid didn’t leak out of his hollow cheeks.

Chromedome leaned next to Rewind, “Does he look familiar?”, he whispered.

The archivist hummed with his arms folded on the table, “I wanna say yes but I can’t crack the code. How about you, detective?” Chromedome grasped his chin, “Based on how he talks and what he said, he sounds like he hasn’t matured yet...He claims to be forged 4 million years ago, but he must have been taken away from Cybertron when the war broke out and kept oblivious to what was going on. There is something about him that I’ve never seen before.”

“You saw it too?”, Rewind asked. The earth-toned mech nodded, “His optics. They’re blue WITH red pupils.”

The gray minibot looked down in thought, “It might be a stretch but I think Cygate might be a _fusion._ And a stable one too! _”_

“A fusion? He does look a bit odd since his plate design is not familiar to me at all. He has wheels and plane parts...Who do you think they are?”

Rewind shook his head, “Not sure. When you fuse you can mix your colors up. You can’t make anything completely different but you use your colors and mix them together. That guy could’ve been made with a blue mech and a red mech for all we know.” He put the rest of the cassettes into his compartment and shrugged, “Lets not intrude him on who he really is for now. They might be extremely private about it and just wants to be considered one person.”

Chromedome relaxed his shoulders and swirled his drink in his glass. He paused before talking, “Would you ever consider being connected to one person for the rest of your life?”

The minibot let the question linger, “Depends...”

“Depends on what?”

“It just depends...”, Rewind dropped the subject. Looking down at the pink slurr, Chromedome silently took a sip of his drink.

“D-Date!? I thought you just wanted to treat me to a drink!”, the couple looked up to see Cygate leaning away from a shocked Riptide.

“B-But...”, the jet boat reached out a little with a devastated look, optics about to offline any minute. He heard Skids and Getaway failing to hide their laughter. As his inner heat levels rose, Riptide gritted his teeth.

“Well why the hell did you wanna know who I was?!”

Cygate shot a confused look, “I just wanted to know what your name was when I saw you! I don’t wanna go on a date with you!”

Riptide could only make a tiny sound of defeat as he slumped in his chair and let his head hit the counter loudly. The escape artist laughed harder, not even trying to hide it anymore.  Swerve patted the jet boat’s arm a sympathetic and walked off.

“Poor little tug boat thought he was on a date! Riptide, smoother as a fragging, bloody battlefield!” a mocking comment came from the doorway. Cygate turned to see a sight he didn’t want to see. Whirl wobbled in with his eerie optic glaring directly at the fusion.

“Oh no. _No._ **_NO._** Whirl, if you’re drunk, get the hell out! You are not wrecking my bar again!”, Swerve pointed to the door. Whirl sloppily waved his claw away and stood behind Cygate and a slumped over Riptide.

“Don’t worry buddy! Maybe some poor, desperate mech will like you!”, Whirl tapped the jet boat’s head. Riptide responded in a pitiful groan. The single optic turned to Cygate.

He put an elbow on the fusion’s shoulder and leaned in, “Who are you supposed to be? An escort to this poor soul?”, he gestured to the depressed mech beside them.

A surge of irritation boiled in Cygate, “No”, he responded coldly.

Whirl leaned his head back and cocked his head. “Wow. A stone cold mech,” he leaned forward into Cygate’s personal space, “I’m already liking to you.” The fusion made an aggravated grunted and made a very hard nudge to the jet’s chest plate. Whirl nearly fell down as he backed up. The nudge made a significant dent on his plating, the glass cracking. The others in the bar kept silent as Whirl tried standing up straight.

“Ooh wow. Didn’t think you could hit hard...”, he tilted his head, “Something about you seems familiar my friend.”

Cygate kept still, his eyes flickering. His posture stiffened as he felt the annoying jet approach him again. Swerve noticed the change in the new guy’s attitude. He looked at Whirl, “Lay off the new guy Whirl....”

“How about YOU lay off!”, he lazily answered, “I’m trying to make a new friend here!” Whirl got in between Skids and Cygate, “So...got a name?”

The fusion kept silent. His blue optics began fading into a deep red.

“Oooh~ Your optics changed colors! You must be really-“ Whirl’s vision flickered into a blur of static and shards. He leaned back and fell on his back, half of his “face” shredded with claw marks. Cygate stood up, looking down with bright red optics at his harasser. His claw, dripping with a little energon, relaxed as the intensity rushing through his head subsided. An awkward air surrounded Cygate, all attention was locked on him.

The fusion blinked his optics back to their blue tone. He looked at everyone with shaky eyes, giving the same expression. “I-I didn’t mean to... I-“

Swerve snorted, slapping a hand on the counter, “PFFFT! HA! Man I did NOT see that coming! You’re a tough mech!” He raised his hand up and snapped his fingers twice with a whistle.

“Ten! Get the idiot on the floor out of here!”

The Golden bot walked over to Whirl and lifted him up by his neck, the jet still knocked out cold. “Just drag him to the security department, they’ll throw him in a cell for a few days. You remember where that is?” Ten nodded, repeating his name as he took his leave.

Swerve shook his head, “I swear that freakin’ jet is such an instigator....”

Cygate sat back down in his seat, “Shouldn’t I leave too?”

“What? Naw, you’re fine bud. I was gonna call over Ten anyway....”

The awkward air ceased, Blaster turning off the calm music in favor of something more alternative. The fusion looked down, seeing how he spilled his drink on the counter. Trails of thin cracks were visible on the glass. Cygate’s mouth twitched, “Was I that angry?....”, he quietly asked himself while he took a small napkin and cleaned off his claw.

He felt a servo touch his servo. Cygate turned to see Getaway standing right there. “Hey there buddy”, he said in a sly tone, “You gave that Whirl guy quite the ‘playful little scratch’ didn’t ya?”

“I guess so...”, Cygate folded his arms and placed his elbows on the counter. The escape artist looked at Swerve, who had his back turned, and leaned over the counter to grab two energon cubes.

“Ooooo....”, Skids taunted quietly with a grin. Getaway’s optics twitched, shooting an annoyed glance. Cygate watched as mech look at him and nodded towards a booth in the back of the room.

“Come on, lets get away from the others for a bit. You look a bit uncomfortable...”, he turn with his two energon cubes and walked off.  Cygate looked over at Skids, who only looked back at him with a smile and raised his glass to him. The fusion got up and followed the escape artist towards the back of the far corner of the bar.

“How does he do it Skids?...”, Riptide finally raised his head up, “How come Getaway’s the cool guy who gets the sweet mechs while I’m the lone loser at the bar?”

Skids scratched his cheek, “Well! I wouldn’t call you a loser....You just had some bad luck with your first move. Maybe over time, you can get to know him better?” The jet boat made a heavy sigh. The blue and gray mech gave a conflicted look, “It also helps to not assume that you’re on a date when someone just wanted to know who you were....”

 

+++

 

The purple and blue mech slid into the U shaped booth, facing towards Getaway who was popping the tops off the two energon cubes. Oddly enough, the corner booth made it hard to hear anything from the counter bar. The escape artist slid a cube in front of the fusion, “Here’s yours.”

Cygate looked down at the drink with a frown, “B-But you stole it.”

Getaway snorted and laughed, lazily waving a servo at the mech, “Oh please! Do you have any idea how many people walk off with that guy’s drinks? He keeps complaining about this minibot called Tailgate and how he always doesn’t have money!” Cygate’s optics widened at the familiar name, heat building in his faceplate in embarrassment.

“Apparently he’s like 200 shanix deep in debt here! Primus! I’d start refusing the guy from entering the damn place after like 50 shanix! He either must feel sorry for that Tailgate or he thinks that minibot is a sight for sore optics, ya get me?”, the smug mech sipped his drink.

The fusion gave a nervous laugh, “Ha, ha! Y-Yea what an idiot....”, he quickly sipped his energon cube, tasting the cheap grade.

“Swerve must be a sucker for blue colored mechs...”, Getaway commented while looking towards the bar. Cygate was facing away from the main counter and couldn’t see what was going on behind him. He remembered he was in a conversation and quickly asked, “W-Why do you say that?”

Getaway wiped his chin near the bottom opening of his mask. “Man you’re really are new around here aren’t ya? First off, I told you about that Tailgate mech. But Swerve practically never charges Skids whenever he orders drinks, EXPENSIVE GRADE DRINKS. Anytime I walk in and order the same thing, Swerve charges me regular! That’s why it’s a pain that I have to go with Skids in here to not get stiffed.”

Cygate looked away, “Maybe Skids pays for his tabs later?...”

Getaway made a doubtful grunt and took another swing. He raised a brow at the mech in front of him, “And then there’s you...”

The fusion blinked and looked at the mech in front of him, “Excuse me?”

The gray and white mech smirked underneath his mouth plate as he sat down his empty glass of energon. “You, my friend”, Getaway scooted around the booth, getting closer to Cygate. He gestured the fusion to get closer. The mech felt a bit weird but complied, the two now sitting next to each other at a confortable distance.

“Have you noticed that you had everyone in the palm of your servo? As soon as you walked in, everyone was gazing at you like a brand new alt model. You even had Riptide convince himself that he was on a date with you!”, Getaway leaned back and put a servo on his helm, chuckling.

Cygate awkwardly smiled, feeling out of place, “Um thanks I think?”

Getaway turned to Cygate, “You can cut the innocent act. You’re away from the others...” The fusion contorted his face in confusion. Getaway scoffed, “You’re a mysterious mech with a questionable background but you can knock a mech out with one scrape across the face! You’re not who you say you are....” The air around them felt heavy all of a sudden. Cygate shifted in his seat, “I think you’re just looking into things too much....”

The escape artist propped his folded arms on the table and tilted his head up with squinted optics, “I think I’m not looking hard enough.....”, he commented in a low tone.

Sounds of the bar becoming mute as Cygate felt his throat getting tighter as his spark pulsed faster. _“.....”_ Getaway leaned towards the fusion a little and whispered, “Can I ask you a question?”

“I-...Yes?”

The white, red, and gray palette mech fully turned to Cygate, “What do you think of Megatron being on board?...”

Nervous optics blinked, Cygate feeling a bit whiplashed at the question. The question reminded him that the post-Decepticon leader was actually on the ship. Cygate couldn’t really answer the question, part of him only learned about Megatron in the past few years. He saw the other mech looking at him with half open optics, staring a hole into Cygate. The fusion shifted in his seat.

“Does it really matter?”, he answered.

Getaway’s optics widened a bit, leaning back up, “That’s an interesting answer...” He tilted his head to the side slowly, making Cygate more uncomfortable. Getaway placed his servo on the table, tapping the table with his index finger. “Do you think that, as a Cybertronian in general, that Megatron shouldn’t be given a second chance? I mean I KNOW you know about Megatron, you’re not that naive.”

Cygate was quiet for a moment, his mind racing for a right response. A part of him felt like not even answering the question. Why should he? This guy bought him away from the others to ask touchy questions. But at the same time, maybe he just wants to talk about Megatron. It’s kind of hard to talk about the guy on an Autobot ship without high emotions. But one thing he could internally agree on is that Getaway feels cold to talk to when not around the others. “Well?”, the smug mech questioned.

Cygate turned away from Getaway and tapped his half cull energon cube, remaining silent. The escape astist leaned back, lifting his palms at the fusion, “Hey, hey...Don’t give me the silent treatment! We were about to get somewhere really interesting!” The two sat there for a moment, Cygate sunk in his seat a bit. Getaway scooted a bit closer, “I get it, you’re a bit shy on the topic in public! Maybe you thought that Megatron had a good idea goin’ for a while but stopped when he went full on crazy....”, he stopped right beside Cygate, gazing at the energon cube the mech was holding. The fusion was still quiet while his optics flickered.

“Ya know, we could go to the other bar if you feel uncomfortable here?”, the mech asked.

“...”

“Or...Maybe we should go somewhere where we could talk alone?”, he proposed in a low tone.

Cygate felt himself get up from the booth and started walking away, his scarlet red gaze lighting up. The bar looked like a wash of colors as voices echoed in Cygate’s head.

_“W-Wait! Cyclonus! Where are we going?”_

_“Away from that mech.”_

_“But he just wanted to talk!”_

_“No he didn’t Tailgate. We’re not talking to him anymore, we’re going back to the room and un-fusing. And you’re going to tell everyone who ‘Cygate’ really is.”_

_“B-but-”_

_“You’ve had your fun. We’re leaving...”_

Cygate stopped in his tracks.

 _“But I don’t wanna un-fuse! I wanna stay together...”_ He leaned against the wall.

_“Tailgate...”_

_“I...I just wanted to have some fun...”_ , his optics flickered blue again. “And to fit in with everyone else...”, he said quietly.

Cygate was startled when he felt a servo touch his shoulder to see Getaway giving a concerned look on behind his mask. “Hey! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable!”

Cygate backed away a bit with a worried look, “Well you are...”

Getaway scoffed, “I never got an answer to that question.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it!”, the fusion responded quickly, feeling his servos shake.

The escape artist held up a servo, “Woah. Woah...Calm down buddy! I don’t wanna get clawed in the face!”

“I am calm! I just don’t wanna talk about it...”

Getaway shot a quick glance at the bar, nobody noticing the two in the back talking, “Then I guess you’re ok with Megatron, a dangerous warlord who’s massacred countless lives, being on this ship and potentially given a second chance.”

Cygate’s words felt stuck in his throat. His spark pulsed quicker, feeling anxious to just start sprinting out of the bar. “I-I don’t think that!”

“So you’re against Megatron being given a second chance?”

The fusion felt his body shake, he turned away from the mech while hugging himself tightly.

“Which one is it Cygate?”

Cygate quickly turned to give Getaway an aggressive snarl with crimson optics. He stepped one pede towards the surprised mech, but stopped and gripped his head. The gray and white mech raised a brow, backing up from the stranger, “What the hell?...”  He heard Cygate grunt while back up towards the middle of the room.

The fusion’s body lit up, lighting up the room. The stranger glowing up in the middle of the room broke everyone’s attention. Cygate’s body began splitting up, forming two separate forms. As the figure finished splitting into two, soft glow engulfing the figure popped off to reveal Cyclonus with tense shoulders as Tailgate fell on his front side onto the floor. The minibot grunted in pain from the impact. Cyclonus squeezed his optics shut while rubbing his head.

Gasps came from around the room. Getaway looked at the two in awe, _“He was two guys?! Shit...I need to be more careful....”,_ he quickly side stepped out of the bar while the moment was still fresh. Nobody seemed to notice he ran out of the bar.

Cyclonus re-opened his optics and looked around, seeing that Getaway left the bar. He decided to forget about him for now while he helped Tailgate off the floor. The minibot looked up at his fusion partner, “My head kinda hurts...”

“That’s normal if you’re fusing for the first time”, Cyclonus responded.

“What...the HELL!?!”, Riptide called out with a surprised look across his face. He walked up to the two mechs and pointed at Tailgate. “Y-YOU TRICKED ME! You were pulling my cords!”

The minibot pointed back at Riptide, “Hey I didn’t make you flirt with me weirdo! I can’t believe you thought we were on a date!”

“I’m not weird!”, Riptide argued. He looked up at the orchid jet, who gave him a flat look. The marine blue mech gave a nervous chuckle, “Ah. Sorry about the confusion!” Cyclonus could only groan and roll his optics.

Swerve ran up beside Tailgate, “You had me going! Primus, you fooled me good! I knew something was up with you when you clawed Whirl’s face with no hesitation!” he laughed. The blue and white mech grinned behind his facemask in amusement.

Rewind walked up to Tailgate also, “So you and Cyclonus fused eh? You guys looked _pretty_ stable being together for the first time. Or is this the first time you showed ‘Cygate’ off to the public?”

Tailgate scratched his cheek bashfully, “It was my first time....” The archivist clasped his hands together, “Ya know....I don’t have alot of good quality footage on stable fusions since alot of files on stable ones are super rare and -“

“Make it more obvious that you wanna watch them fuse!”, Chromedome called out from the bar.  The gray minibot turned around and gave the mneurosurgeon a sarcastic smile behind his mask. Everyone moved towards the bar, asking more questions about “Cygate”.  

The bar resumed it’s normal environment as people walked in and sat in the booths.

 

+++

 

The ship passed through a thick cloud of nebula, the window of the suite casting a pinkish purple glow. Thick star rocks passed by, appearing as much as one could comprehend. Cyclonus stared out the window of his shared room, arms folded, and his music box quietly playing the electrical synthesizer. The dark room changed tones as the nebula hues went to a strong purple tone with navy blue specs.

The doors slid open as Tailgate walked through and closed the doors. He stepped up to Cyclonus, who didn’t move nor turn around.

“H-How’s it going?...”, Tailgate asked. He heard Cyclonus exhale a bit louder than usual so that meant he was paying attention.

“Um....I’m sorry...”

Cyclonus looked to the side, seeing the little mech in the corner of his eye, “For what?”

Tailgate looked down, feeling a bit guilty, “I’m sorry for not listening to you in the bar. I was having so much fun being a totally different person that I didn’t even see that Getaway was getting a little weird around us. I didn’t consider you were probably getting uncomfortable around him...”

The old swordsman stood there as he returned his glance towards the video. “There’s nothing to be sorry about Tailgate. “

The minibot looked up. Cyclonus continued, “I would be lying if I said I didn’t find any enjoyment being fused...” He turned around half way towards Tailgate, holding up his claws.

“It’s....been such a long time....I forgot how it felt to be one with another.”

Cyclonus saw the little mech walk up next to him, staring up at his claws.

“Do you think maybe.....”, Tailgate rubbed his the side of his face mask, “Perhaps we could form Cygate again in the future?” He saw intense red optics stare at him through the blue hues reflecting through the window. Cyclonus turned back to the window, refolding his arms. The minibot slumped his shoulders, feeling defeated. He sadly sighed and began walking away towards the door.

“We can bring back ‘Cygate’ when it’s appropriate...”

The swordsman heard a gasp, along with a high-pitched squeal noise from the opposite of the room. Doors of the suite opened and closed as little footsteps sprinted out of the room happily.

Cyclonus felt the room become completely empty again as the tunes kept playing. The right corner of the jet’s mouth perked up slightly, imagining the look his little roommate must have had when he said yes.

 

∆∆∆

**Author's Note:**

> For more Transformers!SU stuff, visit my tumblr! There's a bunch....
> 
> http://squiddybiddy.tumblr.com/
> 
> And yes, "Sounds for the Supermarket" is an actual thing. Google it.


End file.
